The flavorful and potent formula below has been used (in various forms) for over 2000 years in India and the Far East as a daily health tonic.

I’ve been making it quite a bit lately, because one of its main ingredients, turmeric, is a go-to cold remedy, among its hundreds of other benefits.

As you heard about in the Remedy Docuseries, turmeric is known as the “Golden Goddess” because of the seemingly limitless number of health benefits its golden-hued rhizome bestows upon us. Turmeric contains at least 20 antibiotic compounds, 14 known anti-cancer compounds, 10 antioxidants and 12 anti-inflammatory agents, to name a few.

The combination of turmeric, ginger, pepper and lemon is perfect for the colds and sore throats that come with the fall and winter months.

And when you add in the energizing and mood-elevating effects of tulsi (holy basil) plus a good honey, you’re left with a supercharged tea that delights the taste buds.

Once you begin to harness the power of herbs, your tea kettle will take on a whole new meaning in your life.

- In a tea kettle or saucepan, add water, turmeric, ginger, pepper and tulsi.- Bring to a boil and let cook for 10 minutes.- Using a small strainer (optional), pour the liquid only into 2 serving cups.- Squeeze 1/2 of a lemon into each cup.- Add honey to taste.- Serve and enjoy!

(If you used the dried forms of any of the herbs above, it’s a good idea to pour the tea through a strainer and then into serving cups.)

When it comes to nutrition, we have all heard plenty of healthy ideas. Sometimes, however, it feels difficult to change our habit—especially when we are in a crunch for time. We lead busy lives and we eat for today! We aren’t thinking about what will happen down the road if we keep consuming foods that are unhealthy for our bodies. To correct for this, keep it simple! By adopting the mindset of “stocking my kitchen with healthy choices is just as easy as keeping it stocked with unhealthy choices,” we can simply “swap” out what we are buying.

For example, as a replacement for standard dairy milk, grab a carton of almond or unsweetened coconut milk. Instead of regular white bread, choose a healthy whole grain or gluten-free bread. As an alternative to red meat, purchase lean choices such as free range, organic chicken or turkey. Adding wild caught fish such as salmon to our diets once a week has incredible health benefits, too.

Making small changes initially gives us a more realistic and manageable approach to our current and long-term health. Did you know that teaching your kids to learn “swaps” at an early age will create positive habits for a lifetime that may certainly change their potential for health complications?

Here a few simple swap ideas to get you started. Show off your new recipe versions with your family; you will find the healthier choices often taste better!

Baking Swaps

Instead of 1 egg, you can swap it for any of the following:

2 tbsp egg replace w/water

1/4 cup applesauce

1 tbsp flaxmeal + 1 tbsp. water

1 tbsp chia seeds + 1 cup water

Instead of 1 cup canola or vegetable oil, swap it for:

Avocado oil or triple filtered coconut oil

1 cup pumpkin or squash puree

Depending on the recipe, 1/2 cup banana, pear puree or peach puree can be used instead of any oil

Instead of 1 cup butter, swap it for:

3/4 cup avocado (chocolaty recipes work best with avocado)

3/4 cup pumpkin puree (great in recipes that are spiced, such as cookies or carrot cake)

Date sugar (date sugar has been studied to have a lower glycemic index than coconut, palm, or cane sugars. Check conversion ratios per recipe)

2/3 cup maple syrup

2/3 cup honey

1 cup molasses

3/4 cup applesauce or banana mash

Cooking Swaps

Instead of eggs for your occasional breakfast scramble, swap it for tofu. When you season tofu with a little cumin, turmeric, onion powder, salt, pepper and a dash of garlic powder you have a tasty “egg styled” scramble that you will enjoy. Try adding a bit of roasted potato, onion and spinach, and you may have a family favorite.

Instead of pasta for dinner, swap it for an easy baked spaghetti squash. One of our favorite recipes is chunky spaghetti sauce stuffed inside of a baked spaghetti squash and topped with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese if preferred. Just follow our recipe for baked spaghetti squash. While the squash is cooking, make your favorite sauce but instead of meat, fill the sauce with hidden vegetables such as sauteed onions, carrots, red peppers, mushrooms, and parsley.

dairy ice cream – Try making your own with almond milk or full-fat coconut milk. (yes, we said full fat coconut milk, it is known to improve many aspects of our health) You can also make a frozen banana ice cream; it will be a big hit with your kids! Use maple syrup instead of sugar for sweetener. Or, if you are eating out, a healthier alternative would be gelato or sorbet.

One of the most important outcomes of the therapy we do at ITK is to reduce the long-term impact of medical trauma on children. Trauma impacts a developing child’s brain and body in a very particular way. It is different than the normal stress and challenges of childhood, in that these are stressors that are scary, chronic, unpredictable, and often difficult for adults in the child’s life to navigate or help support.

In her book, Childhood Disrupted, Donna Jackson Nazakawa, describes how adverse, chronic stressors in childhood change the very architecture of a child’s brain. In the case of trauma (which distinguishes it from normal stress), the genes that drive stress hormones go into overdrive, triggering an inflammatory response that can last lifelong in a child. She writes, “This early biological blueprint depicts our proclivity to develop life-altering adult illness such as heart disease, cancer, autoimmune disease, fibromyalgia, and depression.” This means that even if a child is “cured” of an illness in childhood, the trauma of hospitalization and treatment of a life-altering medical condition can set that child up for a lifetime of secondary medical problems. That is, unless the child is given therapy and support during treatment.

This is ITK’s unique and deeply valuable contribution to the treatment of children with special medical needs. By providing therapy that supports not just physical, but also emotional, psychological and spiritual healing, we give children the ability to heal from not just their illness but also the trauma of hospitalization and treatment. By also treating the families of these children, we help reduce trauma in parents, siblings and caregivers, which allows them to be more present and supportive of the child. In this way, ITK not only contributes to the healing and well being of children with special medical needs in the here and now, but also sets them and their families up for ongoing wellness in the future.

At ITK we understand the profound importance of caring for the whole child in body, mind, heart and spirit. When we see others in the health care profession who strive to attain the same goal we love to give their work a shout out and share some of the great insights they have to offer!

Herbert Benson, MD, has been a pioneer in Mind Body Medicine. Throughout his 40+-year career, Dr. Benson has worked to bridge the gap between Western and Eastern medical practices. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Benson continues to lead the field with research into the efficacy of Mind Body Medicine to counteract the harmful effects of stress.

In his bestselling book Relaxation Revolution Dr. Herbert Benson shows that by calming the mind, one can calm the body and alleviate stress, pain, and illness. Recent landmark research from the genome project has proven Benson's theory: using the mind to quiet the body not only eases stress, it actually alters the activity of thousands of genes, promoting wellness. Science now proves that relaxation not only changes how a patient feels physically and emotionally but, it also has the power to transform genes, molecules, cells, and other physiological functions to relieve a variety of conditions from high blood pressure to chronic joint pain. The relaxation response can simply be thought of as “a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress”... It is the opposite of the fight or flight response.

So how do you enter this state of relaxation, and trigger your body’s natural stress defense? Dr. Benson details a simple step-by-step technique that anyone can use.

1. Sit quietly in a comfortable position.

2. Close your eyes.

3. Deeply relax all your muscles, beginning at your feet and progressing up to your face. Keep them relaxed.

4. Breathe through your nose. Become aware of your breathing. Focus on a word, phrase, short prayer, or only your breathing. If you choose for example the word “one”As you breathe out, say the word, "one", silently to yourself. For example, breathe in ... out, "one",- in .. out, "one", etc. Breathe easily and naturally.

5. Continue for 10 to 20 minutes. You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm. When you finish, sit quietly for several minutes, at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes opened. Do not stand up for a few minutes.

6. Do not worry about whether you are successfulin achieving a deep level of relaxation. Maintain a passive attitude and permit relaxation to occur at its own pace. When distracting thoughts occur, try to ignore them by not dwelling upon themand return to repeating "one."

With practice, the response should come with little effort. Practice the technique once or twice daily, but not within two hours after any meal, since the digestive processes seem to interfere withthe elicitation of the Relaxation Response.

The relaxation response can help people to counteract the toxic effects of chronic stress by slowing breathing rate, relaxing muscles, and reducing blood pressure. Through eliciting the relaxation response, in combination with standard medical treatment, you may also find that you can reduce your medication dosage or have less invasive surgical procedures. This ideally is a daily practice you can use to keep you feeling great all year long. Happy relaxing from all of us at ITK!

Because at ITK we absolutely love wellness, we wanted to open our blog with fantastic wellness tips and ideas that you can use in your daily life. It feels so good to live in harmony with your deepest source of inner and outer wellbeing!

What differentiates a life filled with struggle from one that is happy and thriving?

Gallup scientists love doing polls! Recently, in partnership with leading economists, psychologists and other scientists, they explored the common elements of wellbeing that transcend countries and cultures. What we love about this data is that it came from research conducted in more than 150 countries!

5 Key Elements of Wellbeing

These elements are the currency of a life that matters. They do not include every nuance of what's important in life, but they do represent five broad categories that are essential to most people.

The first element is about how you occupy your time or simply liking what you do every day: your Career Wellbeing.

The second element is about having strong relationships and love in your life: your Social Wellbeing.

The third element is about effectively managing your economic life: your Financial Wellbeing.

The fourth element is about having good health and enough energy to get things done on a daily basis: your Physical Wellbeing.

The fifth element is about the sense of engagement you have with the area where you live: your Community Wellbeing.

While 66% of people are doing well in at least one of these areas, just 7% are thriving in all five. If we're struggling in any one of these domains, as most of us are, it takes a toll on our wellbeing and creates strain in our daily life.

However, there is a simple solution to this problem! If we can find short-term incentives that are consistent with our long-term objectives, it is much easier to make positive changes in the moment.

For example, we are more likely to skip an impulsive trip to fast food when we consider the short-term reality that chowing down now will lead to a "high-fat hangover" that ruins the rest of the day. Or we might choose to exercise now because we know that just 20 minutes of activity can boost our mood for the next 12 hours.

WHEN WE CAN SEE AN IMMEDIATE PAYOFF, WE ARE MORE LIKELY TO CHANGE OUR BEHAVIOR IN THE MOMENT

So, today is the day to inspire yourself to make long term changes by focusing on short term gains. You can do it! Your ITK community is right here with you, cheering you along every step of the way!

To learn more about this topic, be sure to check out the book Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements by Tom Rath and Jim Harter, Ph.D.

We are delighted to announce the new Integrative Touch for Kids website! Our website now offers user-friendly access to ticket purchasing for all our special events, photos of our programming, current information on our community endeavors, and so much more! Please enjoy!

BIG NEWS!

Did you hear?! ITK was recently awarded a generous grant of $67,000 from State Farm to help grow Our Hospital Heroes Program! To expand the care provided by the health professionals at Banner Diamond Children's Hospital, our Hospital Heroes program brings integrative wellness into hospital rooms and offers free service to children, siblings, and their care givers. We are thrilled to enhance our program to serve even more members of our wonderful community. Check out our Hospital Heroes page under the Programs tab to learn more about the work we are doing!